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Jessica Yellin is right
I kind of feel like Claude Rain's Senator Paine coming onto the floor of the Senate yelling, "Everything that Jessica Yellin says is true!"
I was a newspaper stringer for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. OK, that's pretty low on the journalistic totem pole - heck, let's be honest, it's not on even on the pole, it's somewhere in the dirt -- but I got to see first hand how coverage is spun to support a particular point of view, even to the detriment of the public.
During the run up to the war, I was a full-time stringer for the York Daily Record in York, PA. We did constant stories on "support the troops" rallies that was being held by a variety of people. When I attempted to cover the anti-war movement in the area, I was rebuffed. When counter-rallies were held at the pro-war gatherings, I tried to mention them in my pieces. They were either cut to an absolute minimum or they didn't make it to print altogether. (YDR is owned by MediaNews Group). (I wrote a poem about how I really felt covering these events.)
You also see that same bias/slant/direction being used in the coverage of local news.
If anything, this whole thing is the biggest argument in favor of a not-for-profit media in this country and for breaking up the local media monopolies.
It is also one of several reasons why I've left journalism.
Comments (3)
Barry Nolan shares your pain.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/seeing-no-evil-can-come-to-no.php#comment-2855830
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/27/barry-nolan/
May 29, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
The corporate media WOULD be non-profit if we stopped watching their news programs.
May 29, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Certainly obvious now to those who were in denial that stopping media consolidation should be a top priority. And, figuring out ways to break up the existing conglomerates isn't a bad idea, either.
May 29, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
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